Ross Anderson, Director of ICOM said “Our members are very keen to ‘grow their own’ talent and apprenticeships offer them the opportunity to do just that. There are skills shortages within our industry and attracting the best young people will help address this. Apprenticeships have had an image problem, with the ‘status’ of the qualification when compared to a degree, however employers have got wise to this and many apprenticeships now offer degrees as part of the qualification  – delivering an effective way to ‘learn and earn’ at the same time.

Apprenticeships deliver on the job training and demonstrate that a company wants to offer long term employment – they offer hands-on experience actually doing the job as opposed to a simulation of the job, and most importantly they pay a wage; avoiding the loans that many university students face when they graduate.”

Information on Apprenticeships available can be found at www.getingofar.gov.uk/